"Moon Over Buffalo" at North Coast Repertory Theatre

A comedy written by Ken Ludwig (Lend Me A Tenor, Fox on the Fairway) comes with some absolute guarantees: hapless misunderstandings, slamming doors, strenuous sight gigs. So goes his 1995 play Moon Over Buffalo, currently onstage at North Coast Repertory Theatre, where Ludwig is an audience favorite. The Solana Beach company first staged this play back in 2000 and has also offered up Lend Me A Tenor and Fox on the Fairway. Like those farces, Moon Over Buffalo is pure, pratfalling, broadly acted entertainment.
            Arthur Hanket and Katrina Ferguson star as dueling marrieds George and Charlotte Hay, who front a hapless repertory troupe. The story’s chief “crisis” is whether they (especially George) can keep it together long enough to impress a visiting, star-hunting Frank Capra. Two supporting members of the cast, Jacque Wilke as their daughter, and Roxane Carrasco as Charlotte’s crusty grandma, walk away with this North Coast Rep production directed by Matthew Wiener.
 (Review originally published in San Diego CityBeat on 1/23/19.)